Katie Hobbs announced her refusal to debate against her Republican opponent, Kari Lake, in the Arizona governor's race in the November midterm elections.
The Democratic candidate and current Arizona Secretary of State believed that debating Lake would be "the subject of national ridicule" as her campaign manager, Nicole DeMont, reported:
Unfortunately, debating with a conspiracy theorist like Kari Lake - whose campaign platform is to cause enormous chaos and make Arizona the subject of national ridicule - would only lead to constant interruptions, pointless distractions and childish name-calling. Arizonans deserve much better than Kari Lake, which is why we are confident that Katie Hobbs will be elected our next governor.
The Hobbs campaign believes that to debate Lake would be to debate a candidate who "embraced former President Trump's false claims" that the 2020 election was rigged and predicts a Democratic victory:
Arizonans deserve much better than Kari Lake, which is why we are confident that Katie Hobbs will be elected our next governor.
Hobbs, backed by far-left tycoon George Soros, is proposing that both candidates present their programs at a public event, although they already participated in one last week.
This is not the first time Katie Hobbs has refused to debate. In the Democratic Party primaries, he did not attend the debate against his opponent Marco Lopez.
Still, Kari Lake was willing to participate in a debate and agreed to the rules after the Citizens Clean Elections Commission set Oct. 12 as the date for that hypothetical showdown. Lake criticized Hobbs' strategy:
It is becoming clearer every day that Hobbs' strategy is to hide from me, the press and the voters throughout this campaign and run the clock down on the people of Arizona.
Democrats who shy away from debate
Several Democratic candidates are refusing to debate their Republican opponents. Dana Nessel is in the midst of his re-election bid for Michigan Attorney General. The Democratic candidate refused to face her Republican challenger, Matt DePerno, in a debate. He alleged that there is an open case against DePerno for manipulation of electoral machines and justified his refusal to debate:
Debating with Matthew DePerno would lead me to violate my oath of office and provide him with a forum to circulate hateful rhetoric and dangerous and false claims about our elections. It is beneath the dignity of the office it purports to serve.
Josh Shapiro, candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, declined to debate his Republican opponent Doug Mastriano after receiving an invitation to face off in two debates.
Change of opinion
In recent days, some Democrats changed their minds after first rejecting debates. John Fetterman (D), candidate for senator from Pennsylvania, will finally go to a debate against his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz after initially turning it down.
Also Mark Kelly, Democratic Senate hopeful from Arizona, will finally attend the debate against Blake Masters (R) despite his first refusal.
